I'm scared my eye is irritated because i fell asleep with my contacts on!!?

Question

Last night i fell asleep with my contacts on and this morning when i took them off to wear my glasses my left eye was irritated it was very red so i put some clear eye drops it was still bugging me a lot so i went to check my eye in the mirror and i looked closely and saw a small little white dot in my eye in the color part of my eye i thought it was like something that got in my eye so i tried removing it with my finger and it didn't move then i realized its on my eye like a spot, I'm scared do i have cataracts? I have been wearing glasses since i was 13 im turning 17 this june, i've been wearing cotacts since i was 14 and a half, on july of 2007 i had my yearly eye exam and the doctor said i have astigmatism.....My uncle and both my grandmas have had cataract surgery, my dad has been wearing contacts and glasses for many many years now and hasn't gotten cataracts so i dont know if it runs in the family or something.....please help!!!HELP!!! what do i do?

Answer 1

Cataracts are a clouding of the lens inside your eye that is usually due to aging.  In fact everyone will get cataracts if he or she lives long enough.  They are not related to wearing contacts or having astigmatism, so don't worry about these.  :)

If your eye has an irritation, I would suggest going to see an optometrist to make sure it's nothing serious.  Good luck, and don't be too worried.  :)

Answer 2

I have been advised not to sleep in my contact lenses because it can make your eyes prone to infections.

If you are worried about the small white dot, why not go to the opticians who dispenses your contact lenses and ask for your eyes to be checked ?

I wear contact lenses even though I have astigmatism (which incidentally is at a peculiar angle in my eye) but this condition does not necessarily result in cataracts.

What do you do ?  Go to the opticians for a check-up again and explain what happened and why you are concerned !

Eyes are very precious, do not delay !!